


Where He Belongs

by Cousin Shelley (CousinShelley)



Category: Riptide (TV)
Genre: First Kiss, First Time, Getting Together, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Light Angst, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Undercover As Gay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:54:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21865573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CousinShelley/pseuds/Cousin%20Shelley
Summary: Cody goes undercover at a gay nightclub to draw out a perp who's been attacking patrons. Nick's not sure his heart can take it.
Relationships: Cody Allen/Nick Ryder
Comments: 11
Kudos: 22
Collections: Yuletide 2019





	Where He Belongs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tinx_r](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinx_r/gifts).



"You know, I was worried I'd be uncomfortable." Murray twirled the thin straw in his glass and spoke loudly enough for Nick to hear him over the thrum of the music. "I have to admit I misjudged how I'd feel. It's a pretty boss place, isn't it?"

Nick forced a smile. He didn't want to dampen Murray's enthusiasm for "The Banana Boat," especially not after he'd worried so much about it. Murray had asked them what he should do if a man made a pass at him or asked him to dance.

Cody had shrugged. "I don't know. Tell him no thanks, same as you would any woman you weren't interested in."

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm just new to this." 

"So am I," Cody had pointed out quickly. "But it can't be that different, can it?"

Murray seemed content, smiling back at the men who made eyes at him as they passed. Men hung on each other, kissed, danced just this side of having sex, and Murray didn't seem fazed in the least. Did he realize that most of them probably thought he and Nick were together, sitting at the same table, dressed in a similar way? They wore tank tops with unbuttoned shirts over them, and slacks that fit comfortably, nothing like Cody's. 

Cody wore a white tank with white slacks so tight Nick worried about his circulation. Nick and Murray looked casual, while Cody's outfit screamed _on the prowl_. 

Even if people thought Nick and Murray were a couple, they were almost an hour from King Harbor and unlikely to see anybody they knew. Maybe Murray wouldn't care what anybody thought anyway. After his early nerves, he'd gotten into the swing of things and seemed to be enjoying the new experience. 

Nick was the one who wanted to crawl out of his skin. They'd taken this case to catch somebody who liked to beat up the men who wouldn't go home with him. Nick knew it wouldn't be a walk in the park, but he'd underestimated just how hard it would be. 

The place was fine, though the flashing lights and loud music could be toned down a little to save him a headache. Beer tasted the same there as anywhere. But it was killing him having to sit there and watch man after man look Cody up and down with open appreciation. Naked lust. The things Nick had felt the first time he'd set eyes on him in Nam but had never been able to show. How was it fair that all these strangers were allowed to look at him like that? 

Worse, some touched him. Danced with him. Put their hands on him in ways--

"Nick, are you okay?" Murray finished his drink but held up his hand when a waiter offered another. "You seem distracted."

"I'm fine." Nick threw back the rest of his beer and slammed it onto the table harder than he meant to. A super-tanned man with muscles he must have spent hours in the gym perfecting sidled up to Cody where he stood at the bar and put a hand on his lower back. His _lower fucking back_. "Perfectly fine and dandy," he ground out and motioned at the waiter. He needed another beer. He needed a dozen, but he couldn't indulge and get sloppy. 

The muscled guy couldn't be their perp. The men who were attacked didn't recognize the man who beat them up, so he hadn't approached them in the club. And he'd been described as average sized, not half-Herculean like the guy who stood too damn close to Cody. 

"You're not fine. I know you, Nick, and you've seemed a little off since we took this case.”

"You're right, Boz. I haven't slept great for a couple of nights. I know we gotta get this guy before he hurts somebody else, but I don't like Cody being the bait." 

The waiter appeared with his beer, so Nick settled up and tipped him. He wouldn't be drinking more after that. He had to stay alert and try to figure out if one of the men in the club could be the one they were after. They thought he picked them out while they were dancing and mingling. Sometimes it seemed like he followed them, and other times they thought he might have been waiting for them to come out. When he propositioned them and got rejected, he’d beaten a couple of them badly enough to end up in the hospital. 

The guy they were after definitely had a type. All the victims had thick blond hair, a mustache, and lean, toned muscles on a tall sturdy frame. 

They all looked like Cody.

A girl Murray knew from High Q had a brother who frequented the club, and when word got out that the men who were attacked all looked like Murray’s friend, another private detective, she and the local police had contacted them with a plan to catch the guy. Figuring out if the man was inside right now wasn't easy, since it seemed like so many of them were watching Cody. Nick didn't blame them, he got it, but that didn't mean he had to like it. 

"Cody can handle himself, Nick." Murray always found the the bright side, quick with a word of encouragement. "And we're right here. Nothing's going to happen to him."

"I know, Murray. I know." He patted his friend's shoulder. No, nothing was going to happen to Cody while Nick was around. Nothing at all. 

Despite spending a few hours inside "The Banana Boat," putting on a pretty good show of being available, Cody didn't draw out their perp. Nick and Murray went outside before he left to watch for anyone suspicious. A handful of officers from local law enforcement sat in unmarked cars, so if anyone tried to jump him or anybody else, they were ready. Nothing happened.

Nick might have been relieved if, once they were back on board the Riptide, Cody hadn't insisted they try again tomorrow. 

"Maybe we should give it a few days," Nick offered. He sat on his bunk and rested his elbows on his knees. "We don't want to make it obvious."

"And we don't want him to attack somebody else in the meantime. Come on, Nick. We should keep at this to make sure nobody else gets hurt." Cody peeled off the tank top he'd worn, leaving him wearing only the white slacks that bordered on obscene. He'd told Cody they looked like he'd painted them on when he'd come out of the stateroom wearing them earlier that night, and Cody had merely smiled and said, "That's what I was going for."

Of course they needed to get the guy and keep people safe. But couldn't they do that without Cody having to get up close and personal with so many men? "I know you're right. I just don't like it. There's gotta be a cop from that town or one close by with the right build and hair color."

"We've been through this, Nick. There's not." Cody peeled himself out of his slacks, while Nick tried to focus on the floor between his feet. No underwear. Of course. There hadn't been room for any under those slacks. Cody grabbed a pair and wrapped a towel around his hips. "I'm gonna clean up, then we can talk about this more if you want. But I'm going back tomorrow night one way or another."

"Okay, okay. We'll go back. Have it your way." Nick stripped down to his underwear and crawled into bed. He tried not to imagine Cody wet and naked under the shower spray, and did his best to be asleep, or look like he was, before Cody came back. 

* * *

"Cody?" Murray stood in the hall outside the stateroom and tapped on the door. Nick sat at the table, waiting. "Cody, you ready?"

"Yeah, Boz. Let's go." Cody emerged and motioned for Nick to come along too, but Nick stood and crossed his arms. 

"You're not really planning to go like that."

"Maybe last night didn't work because I wore slacks."

Cody wore pale blue shorts that couldn't even legally be called hot pants. More like _not_ pants, because they were mostly not hiding a damn thing.

They were short, tight, and so very thin. He couldn't be wearing underwear beneath those, either. And the solid tank top had been traded out for a tight one in a wide white mesh that made his already golden skin pop even more, his chest hair and nipples showing darker through the material.

 _Jesus._

It was hard enough to stand there on the Riptide and look at him without giving his feelings away, but to watch him, dressed like that in a room full of men with their eyeballs popping out as they leered at him? Touched him? 

Nick rubbed his hand down his face. "But you're . . . naked."

Cody laughed. "I'm not naked. Lots of people last night were dressed this way."

"Those shorts look like somebody sewed you into them then threw you in the dryer to shrink them even more. I mean, they look like they’re doing damage, Cody."

Cody glanced down at himself. "Yeah. Not the most comfortable things, but two of the men who were attacked wore shorts like these. I'll be glad to get them off later, I can already tell." He shook one leg and pulled at the hem. "Nowhere to go in these, if you know what I mean."

Murray stepped close to Cody, as if needing a better look. Nick had forgotten he was there. Murray pushed his glasses up his nose. "At least you don't have to worry about anyone slipping a hand down your pants," he said, then laughed open-mouthed. Cody laughed, too. Nick did not. 

Nobody would get their hand down those pants, because fingers wouldn't fit. _Air_ wouldn't fit. 

Cody clapped Murray on the back and said, "Let's go." Nick followed them up, which gave him the perfect view of Cody from behind in his not-shorts, the perfect curves of his ass barely covered in thin blue material. 

_I am going to lose my mind._

* * *

Murray's mood was more somber than the night before, probably because he was used to the place and better able to focus. They'd also figured the odds of something happening might be higher with Cody's second appearance at the club. Some perps watched and waited a while before they made a move, and maybe this guy was one of those. 

Nick had one beer and switched to water, but kept the bottle despite the waiter trying to collect it a dozen times so it looked like he was spending the evening drinking, just a regular customer. He had to stay alert in case something happened, of course, but he also didn't want to let his guard down for other reasons. 

"Do you see anything? Anybody look suspicious to you?" Murray scanned the throng of dancers and the crowd at the bar. "Nothing strikes me as out of the ordinary."

"Me, neither. But that's not surprising."

"No, it isn't."

The muscle-bound guy from last night was back and had been at Cody's elbow for twenty minutes. His hand had found its way to Cody's shoulder, his lower back, his upper back, and now the son of a bitch put his hand on the back of Cody's neck like he might pull him in for a kiss. 

Nick held his breath, but Cody leaned out of it by turning to talk to someone on his other side. He did a good job of acting like all this was okay with him, and maybe he just wasn't interested in a stranger getting too close. He did better than Nick could have in that situation. Men looking at him like that and getting that close? _Men who weren't Cody?_ No way. 

The muscled guy's hand slid down Cody's back and came to rest on his ass. Nick squeezed his empty beer bottle until his knuckles ached, starting a mental count of five for him or Cody to remove that hand. 

Watching him with his various girlfriends had been hard enough, but nothing compared to this. He'd never considered what it would be like to watch Cody with men instead of women. Men that weren't him. The muscled guy with eyes for Cody was the one that deserved all the bad thoughts Nick had aimed at Cody's girlfriends over the years. He offered a silent apology to them. A _few_ of them. 

The hand on Cody's ass was still there. Nick was up to four. Four-and-a-god-damn half. Fi--

The bastard slid his other hand up Cody's shirt, palm against his stomach, and leaned close. 

"Huh uh." Nick stood fast enough that his chair jumped. "Nope."

"Nick, what's--"

"No fucking way." Nick stomped through the crowd not caring who he bumped into and didn't stop until he stood next to the muscled guy, whose face was too close to Cody's, hands still in places they shouldn't be. 

Nick took Cody's arm. "He's with me."

"What are you doing?" Cody said, an uncertain smile on his face. 

"Breakin' up this little pow-wow." He spun his finger in a circle between them. "Come on."

The pile of muscles puffed out his chest and stepped up to Nick. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he said. "Nick's talking to _me_."

Nick? Cody's gay-bar undercover name was _Nick_? He side-eyed Cody, then wiped any hint of amusement off his face. "I said he's with me. Back off."

The guy leaned forward, but Cody put his hand up. "Sorry. Just a misunderstanding." He kept his hand up as he and Nick took a few steps away, and fortunately for all of them the guy didn't follow. He turned to someone else in the crowd. 

"Nick, you're gonna blow my cover," Cody said, but his uncertain smile had turned into a solid one.

Now that he'd charged in like that, how was he supposed to explain it to Cody in a way that sounded reasonable? 

"Being undercover doesn't mean some stranger gets to put his hands all over you. Nobody expects you to let it get that far." He stood between Cody and the men on the dance floor as if he could physically keep him from getting near them. 

"He was a little handsy, but it was nothing I couldn't handle." He clapped Nick on the shoulder. "I appreciate your concern, but I didn't need you to rescue me, big guy."

"I know that. It's just . . . I hate this, Cody. I don't like you having to do this, gettin' pawed out here." How did he tell him he couldn't watch it go on anymore, without saying too much? He stepped closer so he could speak softer. "You say it's fine, but I know how I'd feel if they were all over me, and it's making me sick thinking about how you might feel that way, too."

Cody's smile faltered and disappeared, not a trace of it left in his eyes. Several seconds passed before he answered. "If I'd known being here would make you feel sick, I would have suggested you not come."

"Cody--"

"You've seen women all over me before. You've seen me kiss plenty of 'em."

"That's different." 

"Wow." Cody’s eyes widened. "I've known you all these years and had no idea you felt this way. Maybe you should wait outside so you don't have to watch."

This was going off the rails, and fast. "I'm not leaving you in here alone when the perp we're looking for might be here."

"If he comes after me, it'll be once I’m outside. Look, Nick, just let me deal with this. We'll hang out another couple of hours and leave, and hope like hell he comes after me so we can be done with this job. In the meantime, why don't you go sit with Murray and make sure nobody tries to pick _him_ up." Cody walked around him, heading back to the throng of men who danced close, smiling and laughing and touching each other. 

Nick grabbed his arm and pulled Cody back to him. "No."

"What the hell are you doing?"

"If you're gonna be out here, so am I." He put an arm around Cody's waist and pulled them together. Nick had no right to insist on this. He was overstepping. He should let go, but he couldn't make himself do it. 

Cody met his gaze and took a deep breath. "If this place makes you sick, you're going to stand out. We can't afford that, Nick."

He'd fumbled that earlier and ached with the need to make it right again. "It doesn't make me sick, Cody. That came out all wrong. And I can blend in." His other arm went around Cody so that his hands clasped together at his lower back. Cody grabbed his shoulders as if he might push Nick away, but he held on.

How many times had they hugged since they'd known each other. Hundreds? Thousands? But this was different. Nick should feel guilty for it, but maybe this was his one chance to know what it would be like to hold Cody this way. To be this open with him and touch him in a way he never had and would never get to again. 

Cody stared into his eyes, his brows drawn together. 

"Hey,” Nick said, “better me than strangers, right? And I won't put my hands on your ass like they do." Nick smiled, wanting so badly to lighten the moment and set Cody at ease. "Unless you think I should," he said with a wink and gave Cody's ass cheek a playful slap before lacing his fingers together again. 

Cody's smile came back and he laughed out a breath, like he'd been holding it. "Okay." Then he turned them so Nick could see where he'd been looking. "Murray is--" The rest of his sentence was lost in laughter as he waved at Murray and got the slowest hand raise in the history of the world. 

Murray's slack-jawed expression was the definition of deer-in-the-headlights, and Nick laughed, too. When the moment had passed, their faces were close, cheeks and chins brushing.

Cody froze. "I'm not sure this is a good idea," he said, almost too soft for Nick to hear even as close as they were. 

"Come on, it'll be fine." Nick tightened his arms around Cody, an attempt at a reassuring squeeze, but it pressed their bodies tighter together, and Cody shifted against him. 

Cody was hard, and he had to know Nick felt it. 

He glanced away from Nick, color rising in cheeks, and let go of his shoulders as he tried to step back. "Nick, I'm sor--"

A shout carried from the hallway that connected the bathrooms in the back. Nick and Cody spun toward the sound, bracing for a fight, but a very drunk man being mostly held up by two other men insisted loudly that he knew when he'd had enough. They led him toward the door as he shouted again about the lousy service and how he'd take his business elsewhere. One of the men half-carrying him told him to shut the hell up or he'd tell their mom. Brothers, and probably a friend tagging along. Nothing to see there. 

Cody's shoulders slumped in relief. "False alarm," he said with a smile that was too nervous, too hesitant. 

"You wanna pack it in for tonight? We can always try again tomorrow." Nick plucked at Cody's shirt near his navel, a casual, easy gesture like he might do any ordinary day. As his fingers touched skin through the mesh, Cody's stomach muscles quivered, and Cody scratched the spot. "I, uh . . ." His eyes focused on something beyond Nick's left shoulder. "Be cool, but turn around and tell me what you see."

Nick did as he was told, and immediately spotted the guy who looked a hell of a lot like Cody with the muscled guy Nick had pulled Cody away from. Muscles had a hand against the wall near the other guy's head, leaning in. The Cody look-alike didn't seem bothered if his hands all over the muscled guy's back were any indication, so nothing was wrong there.

It was the man standing about fifteen feet away watching them who raised Nick's hackles. He was dressed a little like Nick and Murray, casual but not flashy, clearly not trying to attract a lot of attention. His hair was a buzzcut, dark, no facial hair. Definitely not made of muscles, but average in build. 

The most notable thing about him was something in his hand that he kept holding up to his face to look at. To look _through_.

"That a one-ten?" Cody said. 

"I think so." The guy was sneakily taking pictures of Cody's look-alike and the muscled guy making out. 

Cody put his hand on Nick's waist and stepped around him so his back was to Nick. "You should go clue Murray in."

As soon as the words were out, the man glanced at Cody. He pocketed what was in his hand--it _was_ a camera, Nick was sure--and stared. 

"He's gonna make us," Cody said over his shoulder.

He would, if they stood out. So Nick wrapped his arms around Cody from behind. He pulled Cody's back against his chest while watching the guy in his peripheral vision. “Just don't look directly at him."

"I'm not, Nick," Cody whispered. "Give me some credit, will ya?"

Nick chuckled and let himself slowly sway despite the up-tempo music. It was a techno-synth fast-beat thing he couldn't imagine trying to dance to, but it didn't matter. He swayed side to side, holding Cody, his chin just above Cody's left shoulder. 

"He's looking again," Cody whispered. 

He held his breath and put his hand on Cody's chest, urging Cody to lean against him more. "You're the one he's really watching, so you've gotta sell it."

"Me?" Cody rasped as if he'd forgotten why they were there in the first place.

"You're his type, remember?"

"Yeah." Cody cleared his throat, back tensing. "Right. Gotta act the part."

Cody let his head drop back to Nick’s shoulder and covered Nick's hands with his own. The warm skin of his neck was right there, so close to Nick’s lips. Too close. Cody turned his head, his lips brushing Nick's jaw. Nick's breath caught. 

“I think we pulled it off,” Cody whispered. Cody’s double and the muscled guy were moving toward the door, and the guy with the camera followed.

They trailed him at a distance and passed the table where Murray had been--where the hell was he? Once outside, they scanned the parking lot, looking for signs of trouble. The sounds of a struggle, a scuffle, were the first hint something was happening, then a floodlight snapped on and somebody with a loudspeaker shouted _freeze_. 

Once the perp was in cuffs, Murray rushed up to them, panting and wide-eyed, nearly vibrating with excitement. "I saw you two watching that guy, so I came out and let the police know you had a possible suspect.”

Nick should have known that's why he wasn't at the table. He had good instincts, too. "Great work, Boz."

"Really great," Cody repeated with a broad grin and a slap on Murray's back. 

The perp with the camera had foolishly tried to pick up Cody's look-a-like as the muscled guy was getting into his car to lead the way to his place. Even without the cops there, Nick thought tonight might have been the end for the perp, because the muscled guy looked like he could take down a charging elephant if he set his mind to it. 

An hour-and-a-half had passed before they finished talking to the cops and got back to the Riptide. Murray's buzz after the arrests had worn off, so he'd gone to bed so he'd be rested and fresh for some programming he wanted to get done in the morning. Once Murray was gone, Cody stood with his hands on his hips in the galley, looking everywhere but at Nick. 

"Gonna shower and hit the hay." He finally met Nick's gaze. "Unless you wanna shower first? That'd be okay."

Nick shook his head. When Cody headed for the stateroom, Nick followed him in and sat on his bed. He wanted to smooth things over between them about what he’d said earlier. But part of him also looked forward to being alone for a few minutes to think back on holding Cody in the club and to replay how it felt to finally have Cody in his arms, where he belonged. 

Things weren't right between them, though. The set of Cody's shoulders gave that away. He couldn’t let that stand.

"Cody, we need to talk about what happened."

"About how we spent two nights at "The Banana Boat" and really didn't do much to help catch that perp?" He glanced over his shoulder and smiled. "I wasn't very good bait, after all. But at least they got the guy."

"Yeah, they got him. But that's not what I meant."

Cody shuffled around in a drawer for a minute. "There's nothing to talk about."

His rough tone caught Nick off-guard, but he couldn't let it go. "I'm sorry for the way I said some things earlier. It came out all wrong.”

"Sure. I'll forget all that, if you'll forget what happened." Cody stared at him, waiting for some kind of acknowledgement. When Nick merely stared back, Cody finally said, "When I was up against you, what you felt, Nick, it wasn't . . . I didn't mean for that to happen. These shorts are just so tight . . ."

Of all the things Cody could have said, Nick hadn't expected that. "It's okay. Doesn't mean anything."

"Right." Cody still pushed clothes around in a drawer. "That's what I thought."

"Probably happened to you a lot out there, all those bodies dancin' and bumpin' into ya." Nick didn't even want to think about that.

Cody closed the drawer--slammed it--and headed for the door, but Nick stood and caught his arm. "Hey."

Cody spun to face him, not angry, exactly. He looked wounded. "I never expected you'd love this assignment or enjoy being there, but I also never thought you felt that way about gay people, that just watching men touch one another would make you sick."

Oh, no, no, no. "Damn it, Cody, I don't. It’s not like that."

"You said it yourself, Nick. You felt sick. You couldn't stand it."

"I _couldn't_ stand it." He grabbed Cody's arms. His choice was let Cody think he hated gay people or try to explain. Not much of a choice. "I don't care that they're gay. Couldn't care less. But they were coming on to you."

Cody frowned and shook his head. "Why does that matter? You thought I couldn't handle it and might blow my cover? If a gay man touches me, I don't feel threatened, Nick."

" _I_ felt threatened, okay? _I_ did."

Tension hung between them, Cody's eyes hard. "Why?"

He couldn't do this anymore. If there was going to be a wedge between them, better for it be about the truth than a stupid misunderstanding. 

"Because it wasn't me, damn it." 

Cody slow-blinked, and his expression softened. "What?"

Nick pushed Cody backward until he stood against the wall. "It wasn't right that they got to touch you like that when I'd wanted to for so long and couldn't." Nick slipped his hand up Cody's mesh shirt, palm flat against his stomach the way he'd watched the guy in the club do it. Cody's stomach muscles quivered as he sucked in a breath. His shuddering exhale was like a lightswitch flipping on in Nick's brain.

A beat. Two, to give Cody time to make a decision. Cody's breaths came shallow and fast. His gaze snapped from Nick's eyes to his lips and back, and Nick had his answer. He pressed his lips to Cody's, leaning in with his whole body, trying to make him understand everything he'd ever felt and not said or acted on in one single kiss. Cody groaned into the crush of their mouths, his lips parting, fingers twisting in the shirt at Nick's back to pull him closer. 

Nick leaned back to give them both time to let was happening to sink in, but Cody chased his lips. He needed to be closer, to feel everything. He moved the hand on Cody's stomach and slid it down to palm him through those unbearable shorts. Cody was hard. 

"That _didn't_ happen a lot out there," Cody managed as their lips dragged together. He pushed himself into Nick's hand. "Only once. With you."

Cody thrust against his hand and pulled Nick hard against him with a firm grip on his ass, his need as urgent as Nick's.

Nick rolled himself against Cody's hip and examined every line of Cody’s face, every muscle, as Cody’s mouth fell open and his tongue peeked out to slick his bottom lip. He recorded every sound Cody made as he drove them closer to the relief they needed, and thrilled at the strangled sound Cody made as he bucked forward into Nick’s hand and tossed his head back. Nick kissed his arched throat then pushed the mesh up and out of his way to drag his lips across Cody's chest.

"Nick," Cody breathed and sank his fingers into Nick's hair.

Nick groaned as Cody pulled him up into a kiss, his body snapping taut. Then Cody slapped the wall behind him with one hand and gasped into the kiss as he came. God, he was beautiful. Nick's hips stuttered and pleasure exploded through him, Cody's kiss keeping him from shouting too loud. Between that and Cody hitting the wall, he couldn't be sure how much noise they made.

_Please, Boz, for the love of god, be asleep and don't show up wondering what's going on._

He rocked against Cody until they leaned together, shuddering, trying to catch their breath around a kiss neither wanted to end. 

Cody, braver than Nick when it came to almost anything except choppers and fists, finally took a deep breath. "You know I love you, Nick," Cody said. "But I thought if you knew I _loved_ you, it might ruin everything. You have no idea how long I've wanted this." 

"Yes, I do. I know exactly."

Cody's eyes shone with understanding. "At the club, when you stormed out there, acting jealous, I thought maybe there was a chance after all. Then you said--"

"I said everything wrong. I thought I couldn't let you see how I felt, and I screwed up. I'm sorry." He nuzzled beneath Cody's ear. "Between watchin' you out there half-naked and seeing other men tryin' so hard to get with you, I'm amazed I remembered how to speak English at all."

"You did come pretty close to grunting and throwing me over your shoulder." Cody's voice held no irritation. He was smiling. 

"I did, huh? Sorry about that."

"It's okay. I kinda liked it. And I think I might have done the same if the tables were turned." Cody laughed out a breath and draped his arms over Nick’s shoulders. "Looks like we're a couple of dummies."

Nick snorted. "I'd be amazed if you could find anybody to argue with that." 

Cody kissed him again, then pulled his hips back with a hiss. "These shorts are so _incredibly_ tight. And now damp," he said with a grimace.

"We can fix that easy." Nick wedged his fingertip under the waistband at Cody's hip, careful so he didn't pinch him. "God, I've worn wetsuits looser than this."

Cody laughed and let his forehead rest against Nick's. "So what do you think it'll take, maybe a little bacon grease and a crowbar?"

Nick trailed his fingers over the bulge in the thin, blue material, drawing a gasp from Cody. "If you'll lie down and let me go to work on the problem, I'm pretty sure I can get you out of 'em without all that."

"Think so, big guy?" Cody's little smile grew slowly into a broad, beaming one. He pushed Nick backward until they fell together on his bed. "Let's find out."

Nick laughed and rolled with him, ready to give it his best shot. 


End file.
